The 4W campaign is designed to generate 1000 hours of paid work for unemployed people in Elkhart County in one week, from November 11 to November 18.  We challenged residents of Elkhart County who have work to do around the outside of their houses and yards to find people in the ECWT Skills Bank and pay them to work.

We think that’s very possible.  If 200 people in Elkhart County provide 5 hours of work, we’re there. If 100 people give $10 to the project fund, we raised $1000.

We also think the campaign is working.  People are calling the ECWT office and asking us to have their lawns raked, or gutters cleaned.  People are making donations.  We even put some number on the webpage of hours worked and contributions.

But those numbers can’t tell us exactly how the campaign is working, not because those numbers aren’t trustworthy, but simply because those numbers can’t tell the whole story.

I had a phone conversation yesterday with Jim (not his real name), who signed up in the Skills Bank soon after it came out.  I called to find out how he was doing, and whether he was getting any work through the Skills Bank.

“Oh yes,” he said, “I’ve been getting lots of hours at Amelia’s house.” (No, that’s not her real name.)   At first I was surprised.  Very pleasantly surprised.

Then I remembered Amelia asking me during the First Friday in September if we had anyone in the Skills Bank who could perform a variety of chores around her house.  She named the chores, and I saw Jim standing a few yards I way.  He is skilled in everything she needed done. I called Jim over and introduced them to each other.  Then I forgot about it.

But Jim has been doing “lots of work” at Amelia’s house.  Getting money that helps keep his household afloat.  Keeping busy. Keeping his skills sharp.  And Amelia is getting tasks on her “to do” list finished.

So . . . we can’t report on exactly how many hours of work have already been generated during this Week of Wonderful Weather and Work (4W) campaign, because we don’t know.  We don’t know how many people in the Skills Bank received work previously.

However, perhaps the most important question is not what other people have done, but what have you done?  Have you gone to the Skills Bank to sign up for work?  Have you gone to the Skills Bank to hire someone to work?  Have you contributed to the project fund, so that ECWT workers can rake the yards of elderly people?

We tell you as much as we can about what other people are doing.

But only you can answer this question:  What have you done to help Elkhart County work together?